Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Contravisory Investment Management Inc.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ - Free Report) by 22,023.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,247 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock after buying an additional 19,160 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,490 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Verizon Communications by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 31,239 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock worth $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Verizon Communications by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 734,537 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $29,374,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Verizon Communications by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 271,744 shares of the cell phone carrier's stock valued at $10,867,000 after purchasing an additional 14,105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 5,000 shares of Verizon Communications stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $212,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 36,508 shares in the company, valued at $1,550,859.84. The trade was a 12.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 21,500 shares of company stock worth $938,400 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $48.50 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Verizon Communications from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Verizon Communications from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Verizon Communications from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Verizon Communications from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.41.

Verizon Communications Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:VZ traded up $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.26. 12,081,426 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,998,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.39. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.26. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.59 and a 12-month high of $47.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The cell phone carrier reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $33.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.31 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Verizon Communications Company Profile

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).